The Reason Behind Car Sickness Among People

Carsickness is something a lot of people struggle with. Finally, the reason for it has been discovered and it will surprise you. Neuroscientist Dean Burnett explained that the brain thinking it is being poisoned is the reason why people suffer from carsickness.

According to Science Alert, a recent research has revealed that carsickness may be the effect of the brain's response into think it is slowly being poisoned. Burnett, the author of Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To, recently appeared on NPR's Fresh Air and discussed to host Terry Gross that the cause of any kind of motion sickness is actually just a minor "sensory mismatch."

Physically, you're stationary while riding in a car, but "little tiny little tubes full of fluid" are moving and telling your brain something different than what the rest of your body senses. "So what's happening there is that the brain's getting mixed messages," says Burnett, "It's getting signals from the muscles and the eyes saying we are still and signals from the balance sensors saying we're in motion. Both of these cannot be correct."

Au.be.yahoo.com reported that while the eyes, muscles and nerves are not moving, the fluid in our ears are moving back and forth, which is what is sending a message to the brain saying that the body is moving. Burnett said that this mismatch gives the brain mixed messages and the only thing our brains have evolved to connect this mismatch with is a neurotoxin or poison. That is also the reason why you purge in the middle of the road trip even when you're not even halfway through the trip.

What scientists can't tell is why it affects some people and not others, or why some people 'grow out' of car sickness. It's possibly just the luck of the evolutionary draw. A past study revealed that those who have "body sway", people whose bodies naturally move more often, even when stationary, are at a higher risk of being sea sick. It may also be applicable to those people who move differently in general, good.is reported.

Meanwhile, experts are still trying to figure out a way to cure the sickness that has been known to have ruined family holidays, before it even started. According to what has been shared so far, listening to your favorite music, as well as eating a light meal high in protein before the trip can calm your stomach.